Gaming apparatus

ABSTRACT

Described is a method of constructing prize structures that are particularly useful in gaming systems which can be used to implement various games such as bingo and poker. In particular the described pay structures and game systems can have sufficient granularity such that the outcome or payoff of the game being played can be expanded to provide higher payout amounts as well as closely replicate the payoff of a second game.

FIELD OF THE DESCRIBED SYSTEMS

The described mechanisms and methods relate generally to electronic gaming apparatus and gaming methods including methods for constructing prize structures.

BACKGROUND

In the gaming industry in general and in casino environments as well as internet applications in particular it is desirable to provide gaming systems including bingo apparatus and systems that are attractive for customers to play while providing an acceptable return to the proprietor of the gaming systems. It is also desirable to provide multiplayer card gaming systems that are attractive for customers to play while providing an acceptable return to the proprietor of the gaming systems.

Regarding bingo games, most electronic bingo games are played in a similar manner to conventional bingo games where a player pays for and plays one or more bingo cards. Balls having marks or symbols corresponding to squares on the cards are sequentially drawn, or in the case of electronic systems, randomly generated. The first card in which a predetermined patterns of squares, such as columns, diagonals, rows or corners, is filled by symbols on the drawn balls is the winner. Typically, the prize is paid to the player with the winning card or if two or more cards have one of the predetermined patterns, the prize can be split. There are a number of variations on this approach especially in electronic implementations of bingo. For example, after the initial purchase of one or more cards, the game requires the players to pay a predetermined amount per card for the next ball or series of balls and thus player with the winning card or if two or more cards have one of the predetermined patterns, the prize can be split. There are a number of variations on this approach especially in electronic implementations of bingo. For example, after the initial purchase of one or more cards, the game requires the players to pay a predetermined amount per card for the next ball or series of balls and thus the player has the option of only paying for cards that appear to be close to winning.

However, the bingo games as described above have a number of disadvantages. For example, since the games normally pay out only one large prize to the player having a winning pattern, a player playing a bingo game, especially with a large number of players, can play for a long time without winning anything and hence become discouraged.

Regarding multiplayer poker gaming systems, one approach to such a system involves each player playing on his own terminal or personal computer where under control of a central computer or Internet website the players play against each other. The terminals can have displays showing the hands as dealt, winning hands and other game information. The game can be played using the central computer to deal each player a hand from one or more simulated card decks corresponding to casino type games where a dealer deals hands from one or more card decks. However, this approach tends to be effectively limited to about ten players (10 players×5 cards per player=50 cards from a 52 card deck). For such a system with more than ten players, it becomes difficult to construct a prize structure when dealing is done from a single deck or even a combination of multiple decks and especially for internet games which might have thousands of players in a single game. As a result, poker type games with very high payouts based, for example, on the number of players in the game become especially difficult to construct.

One example of an attempt to provide enhanced player appeal is to structure a multiplayer gaming system such that each individual gaming machine includes a set of player controls in which a game such as bingo, keno or poker can be played and a first display for displaying the game as it is played and further includes a second display for displaying the outcome of the game in a different game format. The second display can for example display the outcome and indicate the payout of a bingo game in the form of spinning slot machine reels. Examples of these types of gaming systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,322,886 and 7,641,552.

However, the dual game display approach as described above does not address the problem of providing prize structures, especially where one type of game is played and the outcome is displayed in a different game format, such that the prize structures are sufficiently flexible to allow game designers to optimize payoff tables for maximum player appeal while providing a specified return to the game system proprietor.

SUMMARY

Described is a method of constructing a bingo prize structure which is particularly useful in a bingo gaming system, in which prizes can be awarded for cards that have a predetermined number or configuration of squares filled but are less than required for a bingo. One advantage of this approach is that pay structures can be constructed for a bingo game that closely replicate other gaming systems, for example, the payoff structure of a spinning reel slot machine.

Regarding multiplayer card game systems, described is a method of constructing a competitive multiplayer card game, that uses a simulated single deck of cards associated with each player or terminal, where the central game controller deals a player's hand from the deck associated with that player's terminal. Also described are examples of prize structures for use with such multiplayer poker games that provide enhanced prizes to the winning players as well as providing a return to the proprietor of the gaming system.

With respect to dual game displays as well as other gaming systems, a method of constructing prize structures, that are particularly useful in gaming systems having dual game displays, and in particular pay structures that have sufficient granularity such that the outcome or payoff of the game being played, such as poker can closely replicate, for example, the payoff of a spinning reel slot machine and displayed as such.

Also described is an example of a multiplayer video poker game where the results and payoffs for each player can be displayed on a video replica of a spinning wheel slot machine which in turn can use a prize structure constructed with the described method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multiplayer bingo gaming system suitable for utilizing the described prize structure;

FIG. 2 is a representation of a simulated bingo ball for use with the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a multiplayer gaming system suitable for utilizing the described gaming system;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of a multiplayer gaming system of the type shown in FIG. 1 for a showdown poker game using a separate deck for each player;

FIG. 5 is a tabular illustration of a prize structure that can be used with the winner take all showdown poker game of FIG. 4 having 20 players;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of a multiplayer gaming system of the type shown in FIG. 3 for a draw poker game using a separate deck for each player;

FIG. 7 is a tabular illustration of a prize structure that can be used with the draw poker game of FIG. 6 having 20 players;

FIG. 8 is a tabular illustration of a hybrid prize structure that can be used with the draw poker game of FIG. 6 having 20 players;

FIG. 9 is a tabular illustration of a prize structure where the prize amounts are determined by the scores of multiple hands that can be used with the draw poker game of FIG. 6 having 20 players;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the type of information that can be displayed on the terminals of FIG. 3 in connection with the games of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a multiplayer gaming system suitable for utilizing the described prize structure;

FIG. 12 is a table showing how the granularity of a game of five card poker can be increased for use with a spinning reel slot machine display of the arrangement shown in FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a table showing how the granularity of a game of card showdown poker can be increased using scores for multiple hands for use with a spinning reel slot machine display of the arrangement shown in FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multiplayer bingo gaming system that provides a representative example of an environment in which the below described bingo prize structure can be implemented. In this example, a central system controller or server 10 is used to control the system. In a casino environment the controller 10 can be a central gaming system computer and in an internet application the controller 10 can be a system server. Connected to the central controller 10, as represented by a set of communication lines 10-18, are, in this embodiment, a group of player operated terminals represented by a set of blocks 20-26. The player operated terminals 20-26 can be configured in various ways including conventional casino type video bingo gaming machines. Alternatively, the player terminals 20-26 as shown can represent internet appliances such as personal or tablet computers connected over the internet as represented by the lines 12-18 to the server 10. As with existing internet bingo games, there can be literally thousands of player terminals 20-26 connected to the server 10 for any one bingo game. The terminal 26 is depicted in FIG. 1 in expanded form to illustrate various features of this machine 26 including a housing 28 and a set of player controls 30. Also, included in the machines 24 is a video display 32 that, in this example, displays a set of nine bingo cards 34-50 for a particular bingo game. The card 46 is expanded in FIG. 1 to show a typical bingo card. As with most conventional bingo cards, the card 46 includes a 5×5 matrix 52 of squares where each square contains a number or play symbol such as number 67 in the upper right hand corner 54 of the matrix 52. In operation, the system controller or server 10 includes a game logic program 56 that among other functions can transmit electronic versions of the bingo cards 34-50 to the player terminals 20-29 for display on the displays 32 and randomly generate or “draw” a sequence of simulated bingo balls such as a ball 58 depicted in FIG. 2, each having a unique number or symbol such as a number 67 shown at 60 of FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the system controller also includes a card display logic program represented at 62 that serves to generate displays of the cards 20-26 on the terminal displays 32 along with a prize structure program 64 that can be used to award prizes to winners of a game. Also, as is typical of bingo games, the game logic 62 in this example can award prizes based on a set of predetermined patterns on the cards 20-26 such as drawn numbers filling in one column, one row, a diagonal or four corners of the matrix 52.

It should be understood that the system shown in FIG. 1 is just a representative example of a gaming system that can make use of the methods described below. Also, an internet arrangement can be used implement such a system where, as indicated above, personal computers can serve as the player operated machines 24-32 and the lines 12-22 represent internet connections with a control system resident on a server that functions as the system computer 10. Additionally, the various functions such as the game logic 56, display logic 62 and prize structure logic 64 can be allocated between elements including the system controller 10 and the terminals 20-26 as well as other hardware elements depending on the hardware and software used to implement the video bingo game.

Tables 1-3 below illustrate a prize structure that can be used with bingo gaming systems of the type described above. Generally in this structure, a prize in addition to the bingo prize is awarded for cards that are close to a bingo. For example, if one of the cards 20-26 has four out of five of the squares necessary to form one of the predetermined bingo patterns when a bingo is called, which is termed herein as a “near-bingo,” a prize is awarded to that card. A near-bingo is defined for purposes of this explanation of the concept as a card that lacks one mark of being a Bingo, e.g. it has 4 marks in at least one line or has 3 corners marked.

As it will be appreciated, it is generally desirable that the near-bingo prizes will be much smaller than the bingo prize as shown in the Tables 1-3. The shaded columns in the tables represent the bingo prize and the near bingo prize. It will also be appreciated that the data in the columns labeled Bingo Prize and Near-Bingo Prize can be changed by the game designers to construct a particular prize structure.

In the embodiments of the concept shown in Tables 1-3, the Near Bingo Prize values, along with the Bingo Prizes are functions of the number of balls drawn to get Bingo. In Tables 1 and 2 the Near-Bingo Prize is a constant at 20 coins and in Table 3 the Near-Bingo prize generally declines as the number of balls drawn to get Bingo increases.

TABLE 1 Results of 10,000 50-Player Games with Near-Bingo Prize using BingoDistance Card Drop Strategy Near- Bingo Near Total Bingo @ Near Coins Bingo Bingo Coin Bingo Coin Ball Games Bingos Bingos In Prize Prize Out CoinOut Out NoBingo 60 0 0 51,515 0 0 0 0 0 4 22 22 75 16,753 20,000 20 440,000 1,500 441,500 5 84 88 513 64,126 10,000 20 880,000 10,260 890,260 6 182 194 1,243 138,650 5,000 20 970,000 24,860 994,860 7 328 365 2,734 295,504 2,500 20 912,500 54,680 967,180 8 561 615 5,204 502,649 1,500 20 922,500 104,080 1,026,580 9 765 859 8,186 681,900 1,000 20 859,000 163,720 1,022,720 10 882 1,028 7,697 817,658 500 20 514,000 153,940 667,940 11 816 911 6,709 755,084 500 20 455,500 134,180 589,680 12 682 782 5,714 631,804 500 20 391,000 114,280 505,280 13 597 680 4,755 561,573 250 20 170,000 95,100 265,100 14 597 678 4,604 559,486 250 20 169,500 92,080 261,580 15 498 549 3,699 465,802 250 20 137,250 73,980 211,230 16 441 491 3,189 419,287 100 20 49,100 63,780 112,880 17 422 474 2,880 398,791 100 20 47,400 57,600 105,000 18 386 441 2,618 364,540 100 20 44,100 52,360 96,460 19 360 408 2,287 343,171 100 20 40,800 45,740 86,540 20 278 308 1,642 263,146 100 20 30,800 32,840 63,640 21 263 284 1,452 247,765 100 20 28,400 29,040 57,440 22 211 235 1,130 201,481 100 20 23,500 22,600 46,100 23 174 199 975 166,888 100 20 19,900 19,500 39,400 24 162 182 850 154,285 100 20 18,200 17,000 35,200 25 159 186 796 153,033 100 20 18,600 15,920 34,520 26 141 155 613 133,301 100 20 15,500 12,260 27,760 27 152 169 647 143,920 100 20 16,900 12,940 29,840 28 115 132 486 110,583 100 20 13,200 9,720 22,920 29 68 74 221 63,661 100 20 7,400 4,420 11,820 30 91 103 282 85,244 100 20 10,300 5,640 15,940 >30 503 561 1,110 469,392 100 20 56,100 22,200 78,300 Totals 10,000 11,173 72,311 9,260,992 7,261,450 1,446,220 8,707,670 Win Freq 1:6.0 % Return 78.4% 15.6% 94.0%

TABLE 2 Results of 10,000 10-Player Games with Near-Bingo Prize using BingoDistance Card Drop Strategy Near Bingo Near Total Bingo @ Near Coins Bingo Bingo Coin Bingo Coin Ball Games Bingos Bingos In Prize Prize Out CoinOut Out NoBingo 2,129 0 0 365,983 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 158 20,000 20 20,000 0 20,000 5 16 16 17 2,457 10,000 20 160,000 340 160,340 6 38 39 63 5,795 5,000 20 195,000 1,260 196,260 7 66 70 127 12,105 2,500 20 175,000 2,540 177,540 8 128 132 300 23,401 1,500 20 198,000 6,000 204,000 9 206 215 479 37,454 1,000 20 215,000 9,580 224,580 10 273 282 548 52,521 200 20 56,400 10,960 67,360 11 232 240 428 44,569 200 20 48,000 8,560 56,560 12 237 243 437 45,405 200 20 48,600 8,740 57,340 13 221 224 391 43,174 100 20 22,400 7,820 30,220 14 222 233 371 43,675 100 20 23,300 7,420 30,720 15 211 220 385 41,711 100 20 22,000 7,700 29,700 16 226 234 369 45,311 75 20 17,550 7,380 24,930 17 237 245 413 47,820 75 20 18,375 8,260 26,635 18 222 229 376 44,851 75 20 17,175 7,520 24,695 19 212 216 293 42,982 75 20 16,200 5,860 22,060 20 245 249 369 50,009 75 20 18,675 7,380 26,055 21 225 227 326 45,965 75 20 17,025 6,520 23,545 22 212 217 309 44,274 75 20 16,275 6,180 22,455 23 220 226 324 45,972 75 20 16,950 6,480 23,430 24 231 238 302 47,592 75 20 17,850 6,040 23,890 25 231 235 293 48,473 75 20 17,625 5,860 23,485 26 229 233 253 47,514 75 20 17,475 5,060 22,535 27 211 216 243 44,157 75 20 16,200 4,860 21,060 28 218 230 228 45,970 75 20 17,250 4,560 21,810 29 232 237 231 48,696 75 20 17,775 4,620 22,395 30 194 199 185 40,392 75 20 14,925 3,700 18,625 >30 2,675 2,743 1,392 563,106 75 20 205,725 27,840 233,565 Totals 10,000 8,089 9,452 1,971,492 1,646,750 189,040 1,835,790 Win Freq 1:5.7 % Return 83.5% 9.6% 93.1%

TABLE 3 Results of 10,000 100-Player Games with Near-Bingo Prize using BingoDistance Card Drop Strategy Near- Bingo Near Total Bingo @ Near Coins Bingo Bingo Coin Bingo Coin Ball Games Bingos Bingos In Prize Prize Out CoinOut Out NoBingo 14 0 0 23,879 0 0 0 0 0 4 31 35 305 47,019 20,000 500 700,000 152,500 852,500 5 136 148 1,403 207,645 10,000 200 1,480,000 280,600 1,760,600 6 324 352 3,723 494,415 5,000 100 1,760,000 372,300 2,132,300 7 602 701 9,573 1,080,601 2,500 50 1,752,500 478,650 2,231,150 8 907 1,101 15,989 1,618,427 1,500 30 1,651,500 479,670 2,131,170 9 1,161 1,421 23,698 2,062,022 1,000 20 1,421,000 473,960 1,894,960 10 1,262 1,609 20,204 2,320,361 750 15 1,206,750 303,060 1,509,810 11 1,021 1,248 15,650 1,869,140 750 15 936,000 234,750 1,170,750 12 825 1,063 12,596 1,512,270 750 15 797,250 188,940 986,190 13 684 875 9,772 1,269,062 500 10 437,500 97,720 535,220 14 541 670 7,451 1,001,130 500 10 335,000 74,510 409,510 15 441 569 5,745 813,750 25 2 14,225 11,490 25,715 16 388 477 5,084 726,425 25 2 11,925 10,168 22,093 17 307 376 3,396 565,375 25 2 9,400 6,792 16,192 18 261 326 3,017 483,081 25 2 8,150 6,034 14,184 19 184 217 2,072 344,218 25 2 5,425 4,144 9,569 20 175 217 1,925 326,939 255 2 5,425 3,850 9,275 21 142 176 1,331 262,513 25 2 4,400 2,662 7,062 22 117 138 1,113 218,576 25 2 3,450 2,226 5,676 23 87 103 672 159,702 25 2 2,575 1,344 3,919 24 79 91 553 144,429 25 2 2,275 1,106 3,381 25 64 82 536 119,448 25 2 2,050 1,072 3,122 26 52 65 335 95,916 25 2 1,625 670 2,295 27 41 48 250 75,228 25 2 1,200 500 1,700 28 30 37 166 54,884 25 2 925 332 1,257 29 33 36 208 61,483 25 2 900 416 1,316 30 15 17 91 27,490 25 2 425 182 607 >30 76 93 218 137,918 25 2 2,325 436 2,761 Totals 10,000 12,291 147,076 18,123,346 12,554,200 3,190,084 15,744,284 Win Freq 1:6.3 % Return 69.3% 17.6% 86.9%

Of particular note, the bingo prize structures described above have a significant advantage in that it can substantially increase the frequency of player wins while still providing substantial jackpots and a good return to the game proprietor. In the examples of the prize structures above, the win frequency is approximately one in six. In fact by using a bingo prize structure of this type it becomes possible to closely replicate the prize structure of other casino games such as spinning reel slot machines. Additionally, this type of prize structure is particularly attractive in the bingo games where after the initial purchase of one or more cards, the game requires the players to pay a predetermined amount per card for the next ball or series of balls and thus has the option of only paying for cards that appear to be close to winning.

Another embodiment of the near bingo game described above includes implementing the near bingo operation in a manually played game. For example, the bingo cards 20-26 can be a set of cardboard bingo cards that are randomly distributed to the players in the game. As with conventional bingo games, the game can require that the players pay for each card that they received. The balls 58 instead of being simulated balls can be actual balls that are drawn or “dropped” from a drawing mechanism such as a cage or a rotating container that can be a mechanical embodiment of at least a portion of the system controller 10. Pay tables included in the prize structures of the type shown in Tables 1-3 above can be used to award the bingo and near bingo prizes.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a multiplayer gaming system 110 that provides a representative example of an environment in which the below described games and prize structures can be implemented. In this depiction a casino type environment is used as the example and includes a casino computer 112. Connected to the casino computer 112, as represented by a set of communication channels or lines 114-124, are, in this embodiment, a set of player operated machines 126-136. The smaller representations of the terminals 128-134 is intended to illustrate the fact that the number of the terminals 126-136 connected to the casino controller 112 can be variable and in the case of an internet implementation can be very large. The player operated machines 126-136 can be configured in various ways including conventional casino type video gaming machines. The machines 126 and 136 are depicted in FIG. 1 in expanded form to illustrate various features that can be included in the machines 126-136 including a housing 138; a set of player controls of a first type 140 on the terminal 126 and a second type of player controls 142 on the terminal 136. For example, the player controls 140 can be a keyboard where the player terminal 126 is a personal computer. Also as shown on the terminal 136, is a slot 144 for dispensing payouts to the player of the terminal 136 that can be included where for instance the player terminal 136 is a video poker machine. Preferably, included or associated with each of the terminals 126-136 is a video display 146 for displaying the game being played by the player. The information conveyed to the player on the display 146 can include the player's poker hand and other information relating to game play.

It should be understood that the system shown in FIG. 3 is provided as a representative example of a gaming system that can make use of the methods described below. For instance, an internet arrangement can be used to implement such a system where personal computers can serve as the player operated machines 126-136 and the lines 114-124 represent internet connections with a control system resident on a server that functions as the system computer 112. Alternatively, a casino type system can be used where the player terminals 126-136 are conventional video poker machines that are hardwired or connected wirelessly as indicated by the lines 114-124 to the controller 112 which in a casino can be a computer.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a first embodiment of the operation of the system 110 implementing a multiplayer competitive showdown poker game. In this game, a pay table is selected according to the number of players or terminals 126-136 enrolled or active in the game. Also in this embodiment, each player receives five cards after a deck associated with his terminal 126-136 is shuffled.

FIG. 5 is a table providing an example of a basic prize structure that can be used with the winner take all showdown poker game having players enrolled on twenty of the terminals 126-136 utilizing the process shown in FIG. 4. The ability to provide very high payouts in this process using individual decks of cards for each player is demonstrated in the first and second columns of FIG. 5. Here as depicted in the first and second columns, the highest payout is 100,000 monetary units for the highest score, a Royal Flush, where the initial bet is one monetary unit per player. In this case as shown in the third column, the probability of a Royal Flush where the game uses a separate deck for each of the 20 players is 0.0000308. As indicated in the fourth column of FIG. 5, this prize structure will on average return to the players 19.43 monetary units for the twenty units played giving the game proprietor a return of 0.57 monetary units for each poker game played by 20 players. It should also be noted that, in line with the process shown in FIG. 4, this embodiment contemplates changing the prize structure based on the number of players or terminals 126-136 enrolled in the game where the payouts can increase as a function of an increasing number of terminals enrolled in the game.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a second embodiment of the operation of the system 110 in this case implementing a multiplayer competitive draw poker game. As with the process of FIG. 4, a pay table is selected according to the number of players or terminals 126-136 enrolled or active in the game. Also in this embodiment, each player receives five cards after a deck associated with his terminal is shuffled. However, the embodiment FIG. 6 further includes a mechanism for permitting the players to draw additional cards from their decks.

FIG. 7 is a table providing an example of a basic prize structure that can be used with the winner take all draw poker game having players enrolled on twenty of the terminals 126-136 utilizing the process shown in FIG. 6. The very high payouts that are possible using this process are shown in the first and second columns of FIG. 7. In this example of a prize structure, the highest payout for the best hand in the game as shown in the first column is 8,000 monetary units for the highest score, a Royal Flush, where the initial bet is one monetary unit per player. In this case as depicted in the third column, the probability of the best hand payout, here a Royal Flush, where the game uses a separate deck for each of the 20 players is 0.0004951. As indicated in the fourth column of FIG. 7, this prize structure will on average return to the players 19.91 monetary units for the twenty units played. It should also be noted that, in line with the process shown in FIG. 6, this embodiment contemplates changing the prize structure based on the number of players or terminals 126-136 enrolled in the game where the payouts can increase as a function of an increasing number of terminals enrolled in the game.

FIG. 8 is a table providing an example of a hybrid prize structure in which some prizes are awarded only to the best hand and other prizes are awarded to every player having the appropriate hand, that can be used with a poker game having players enrolled on twenty of the terminals 126-136 utilizing the process shown in FIG. 6. The very high payouts that are possible using this process are shown in the first and fourth columns of FIG. 8. In this example of a prize structure, the highest payout for the best hand in the game is 8,000 monetary units for the highest score, a Royal Flush, where the initial bet is one monetary unit per player. In this case as shown in the third column, the probability of a Royal Flush where the game uses a separate deck for each of the 20 players is 0.00050. However, the prize structure of FIG. 8 additionally provides for payouts for hands other than the best hand. As shown in column 5, every player that obtains a Straight or Three of a Kind will also receive a payout. Here, it is four monetary units for a Straight or two units for Three of a Kind. In this example, as indicated in the sixth column of FIG. 8, this prize structure will on average return to the players 19.92 of the monetary units for the twenty units played. In line with the process shown in FIG. 6, this embodiment contemplates changing the prize structure based on the number of players or terminals 126-136 enrolled in the game where selected payouts such as for the best hand can increase as a function of an increasing number of terminals enrolled in the game.

FIG. 9 is a table providing an example of a prize structure where certain prize amounts are determined by scores of more than one hand. Again this prize structure can be used with a poker game having players enrolled on twenty of the terminals 126-136 utilizing the process shown in FIG. 6. The very high payouts that are possible using this process are shown in the first and sixth columns of FIG. 9. In this example of a prize structure, the highest payout for the best hand in the game is 100,000 monetary units for the highest score, a Royal Flush, where, as shown in column two, the second best hand in the game is a Royal Flush or a Straight Flush. Here, the amount of the best payout is dependent on both the score of the best hand and on the score of the second best hand. If the second best hand is four of a Kind, the best payout will be 20,000 monetary units. In this example of a prize structure, as shown in the fourth column, the joint probability of a Royal Flush where the second best hand is a Royal Flush or a Straight Flush is 1.3 parts per million. The pay structure also provides for payouts for certain of the second best hands as illustrated in column seven. As may be appreciated, the use of joint probabilities in multiplayer games as illustrated in FIG. 9 can provide for very high payouts as well as serving to effectively increase the granularity of game outputs thereby making it possible to design more flexible pay structures. This table also illustrates the provision for payouts to the second best hand.

FIG. 10 illustrates some of the information that can be displayed on the displays 146 of the player terminals 126-136. For example, the displays 146 can display at 148 the hand dealt for the player at that terminal; at 150 the best hand on any of the terminals 126-136 at the conclusion of the game; at 152 a pay table for the game; and for draw poker games of the type described in FIG. 6., at 154 a table providing the distribution of the number of cards drawn and the number of players drawing that number of card.

Also, the system of competitive gaming as described above can be added to an existing gaming system incorporating conventional autonomous video poker machines. For example in a casino environment, such as shown in FIG. 3 where the player terminals 126-136 are conventional autonomous or standalone video poker machines where the player plays an individual game of poker on his own machine and the casino controller 112 is a conventional computer collecting data from the terminals 126-136, one of the competitive gaming systems described above can be added without having to supply additional hardware. In one embodiment the players can be given the option of playing the competitive game on their video poker machines 126-136 along with the autonomous or machine specific game. In this case, the display 146 can be used to display the competitive game information, for example the information shown in FIG. 10, as well as information relating to the individual poker game played on the video poker machines 126-136. There are a variety of ways that this information can be displayed to the players including having a separate window on the display 146 for the competitive game or multiplexing screens with the autonomous machine or individual game information on one screen and the competitive game information on another screen of the display 146. Separate displays can also be used. It should be also noted that the player controls 140 and 142 can be arranged such that the player has the option of electing to play only the autonomous machine or individual game; the competitive game only; or both the individual and the competitive game.

As indicated above, the competitive game can be implemented using the casino computer 112 to control the competitive game as well as the machine specific game. Here, the logic required to implement the competitive game can be added to the casino computer or controller 112 in the form of additional software. This approach makes it possible to substantially increase both the play value and the revenue on the existing hardware in a casino.

As depicted in FIG. 3, the competitive game can also be expanded beyond one venue, such as a particular casino. This can be accomplished by providing a central controller 156 as shown in FIG. 3 which is connected to the casino controller or computer 112 as indicated by a line 158. Local controllers, such as the casino controller 112, located in additional casinos or other gaming establishments can be connected to the central controller as indicated by a set of lines 160 such that the central controller 156 can be used to control the competitive game in additional venues. In this manner the number of terminals 126-136 used to play the competitive game can be greatly expanded thereby providing for much higher payouts for the competitive game.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a multiplayer gaming system that provides a representative example of an environment in which the below described prize structure can be implemented. In this example, a central system computer 210 is used to control the system. Connected to the central computer 210, as represented by a set of communication lines 212-222, are, in this embodiment, a set of six player operated machines 224-232. The player operated machines 224-232 can be configured in various ways including conventional casino type video gaming machines. The first machine 224 is depicted in FIG. 1 in expanded form to illustrate various features of the machine 224 including a housing 234; a set of player controls 236; and a slot 238 for dispensing payouts to the player of the machine. Also, included in the machine 224 is a video display 240 that is divided into two portions: a first display 242 for displaying a the game being played by the player, in this case a game of five card stud poker where the five cards dealt to the player are shown on the display 242; and a second display 244 of a conventional four reel slot machine. The information conveyed to the player in the poker display 242, in addition to his poker hand, can also include the hand of the winning player or in some circumstances it might be desirable to show the poker hands of all six players.

It should be understood that the system shown in FIG. Ills just a representative example of a gaming system that can make use of the methods described below. For instance, two separate video displays can be substituted for the single display 240 or the first display 242 can be multiplexed with the second display 244 on the same video display. Also, an internet arrangement can be used implement such a system where personal computers can serve as the player operated machines 224-232 and the lines 212-222 represent internet connections with a control system resident on a server that functions as the system computer 210.

A method of prize structure construction will first be described in terms of a spinning reel slot machine prize structure with a poker driven approximation that can be used in a system of the type shown in FIG. 11. In poker games, generally the best hand wins. In most cases, the best hand is determined by what class the hand falls into. The nine major classes are ranked in terms of high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, and straight flush. Table 1 below shows a conventional high level ranking of poker hands with the number of possible hands in a fifty two card deck. It is possible to use the probabilities of poker hands falling into these nine classes as a basis for approximating a payoff table of a spinning reel slot machine. However, because of the limited number of distinguished outcomes, only a very crude approximations to very limited payoff tables is possible. Such a crude design lacks what may be termed “granularity.”

TABLE 1 High Level Ranking of Poker Hands Number Of Rank Major Class Hands 9 Straight Flush 40 8 Four of a Kind 624 7 Full House 3744 6 Flush 5108 5 Straight 10200 4 Three of a 54912 Kind 3 Two Pair 123552 2 One Pair 1098240 1 High Card 1302540 Total 2598960

In this class structure, the hands are ranked by number or denomination with the ace as the highest, then the king, queen, Jack, and then ten down to the lowest which is the two. In other words if two players have one pair and one has a pair of 10's and the other a pair of nines, the tens are the superior hand. A straight is when the five cards in a hand have five numerical rankings that are in exact sequence. A flush means all five cards are of the same suit.

An additional refinement of the major classes of Table 1 is made possible by using the denomination to distinguish between hands of the same major class. For example with this refinement the major class Straight Flush is refined as shown in Table 2 below. Here, the single rank associated with the subgroup of Straight Flush Hands is refined or expanded into ten ranks. Thus the granularity of the outcomes is increased by a factor of ten.

TABLE 2 Ranking of Refined Straight Flush Subgroup of Poker hands Rank Within Hand Number Subgroup Name Of Hands 10 Ace High SF 4 9 King High SF 4 8 Queen High SF 4 7 Jack High SF 4 6 Ten High SF 4 5 9 High SF 4 4 8 High SF 4 3 7 High SF 4 2 6 High SF 4 1 5 High SF 4 Total 40

Following this example, there are 7462 equivalence classes of poker hands in a fifty two card deck. An equivalence class is defined as all hands in that class are of equal value. In other words, two hands in the same equivalence class tie when resolving the payoff in a typical poker game. For example, the hands: Jh, Ts, 6d, 5d, 5s and Js, Td, 6d, 5c, 5h (where h represents hearts, s represents spades, d represents diamonds and c represents clubs) are in the same equivalence class that would normally be described as a pair of 5s with Jack, Ten and Six. Note that the hands: Jh, Ts, 6d, 5d, 5s and Js, Td, 7d, 5c, 5h are not in the same equivalence class although both hands are often described with the short hand notation “pair of 5s”. The latter hand will win in a showdown and therefore is in its own class.

FIG. 12 is a table, in this case Table 3, that illustrates how granularity to the ranking of poker hands can be further increased by imposing a further ordering of some hands according to the suit of the high card in the straight. In this example, the suits are ranked in order: Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds. Again in this example, a Spade King High Straight flush is ranked higher than a Heart King High Straight Flush. Table 3 reflects this refinement as applied to the straight flush and the straight major hand classes. With these refinements there are a total of 7522 equivalence classes summarized in Table 3.

Thus, as demonstrated in the Table 3 of FIG. 12, the ranks of poker hands can be expanded from the basic nine major classes of Table 1 to the 7,522 classes of Table 3. As a result, and due to the resulting fine granularity of the 7522 equivalence classes, the prize structure of most spinning reel slot machines can be approximated well enough so that the poker driven version of the machine is indistinguishable from the original for the vast majority of players.

The following is a representative example of how the increased granularity of a prize structure of Table 3 in FIG. 12 can be implemented in the gaming system of FIG. 1.

In this example which has six players playing the machines 224-234 are each in effect dealt five cards by the system computer 210. Here, the five cards for the player on the machine 224 are dealt from a 52 card deck A, five cards for the player on the machine 26 are dealt from another 52 card deck B, etc. The cards as dealt can be displayed on the display 242. In this example, at each play of the game a prize is awarded to the player with the hand ranked highest. The value of the prize will be determined by the rank of the winning hand.

Table 4 below depicts an example of a prize structure for a spinning reel game with 13 prize levels, a win frequency of 1 in 6 and a return percentage to the proprietor of the system of 96.77%.

TABLE 4 Prize Structure of a Spinning Reel Game Probability Coins Of Prize Out Per PRIZE PRIZE Parts Per Million LEVEL VALUE Million Coins In 13 2000 3.81 7,629 12 800 22.89 18,311 11 400 99.18 39,673 10 200 305.18 61,035 9 160 64.85 10,376 8 100 419.62 41,962 7 80 446.32 35,706 6 40 2,876.28 115,051 5 20 9,391.78 187,836 4 10 7,057.19 70,572 3 5 25,215.15 126,076 2 4 5,985.26 23,941 1 2 114,780.43 229,561 Totals 166,668 967,728

It is then possible to approximate the prize structure of the spinning reel game of Table 4 with a poker game by identifying every possible winning hand in the poker game with exactly one prize which is then awarded to the player holding that winning hand. Specifically, this approximation can be accomplished utilizing the enhanced granularity structure of Table 3. As a representative example, Table 5 below illustrates an approximation made with the winning hand outcomes of a 6 player stud poker game.

TABLE 5 Prize Structure of Poker Driven Game Probability Coins Lowest Highest Of Prize Out Per PRIZE PRIZE Hand Hand Parts Per Million LEVEL VALUE Rank Rank Million Coins In 13 2000 7,514 7522 20.78 6,926 12 800 7,476 7513 136.20 18,160 11 400 7,412 7475 590.78 39,386 10 200 7,308 7411 1835.11 61,170 9 160 7,301 7307 386.95 10,319 8 100 7,256 7300 2484.55 41,409 7 80 7,207 7255 2699.53 35,994 6 40 5,888 7206 17077.65 113,851 5 20 5,589 5887 56507.72 188,359 4 10 5,275 5588 42373.07 70,622 3 5 4,571 5274 151237.26 126,031 2 4 4,427 4570 35841.27 23,894 1 2 1 4426 688809.15 229,603 Totals 1,000,000 965,723

In this example, the columns in Table 5 headed Lowest Hand Rank and Highest Hand Rank define the poker hands that yield the prize level. For example for prize level 2, the hand with rank 4427 is Two Pairs 9 9 7 7 6, the hand with rank 4570 is Two Pairs J J 5 5 7. A winning hand better than or equal to Two Pairs 9 9 7 7 6 and less than or equal to Two Pairs J J 5 5 7 will be awarded prize level 2. This will occur with probability 35,911.56 per million plays.

Another method for facilitating the operation of a gaming system of the type shown in FIG. 11 using a prize structure of the type described above is to construct a poker hand table with 2,598,960 records, one record for each possible poker hand. An example of a record structure in such a table is provided in Table 6 below. Preferably Table 6 is maintained in the system computer 210. In this embodiment, there will be one record in the Poker Hands Table 6 for each possible poker hand. The random selection of an integer in the range 1 to 2,598,960 can be used identify a specific poker hand in the Poker Hands Table 6. Here, selecting a random integer is equivalent to randomly dealing a poker hand.

TABLE 6 Record Structure of Poker Hands Memory Field Name Range Bytes Rank  1 to 7522 2 Card 1 Index 1 to 52 1 Card 2 Index 1 to 52 1 Card 3 Index 1 to 52 1 Card 4 Index 1 to 52 1 Card 5 Index 1 to 52 1

In this example, the Rank Description can contain a text description of the various hands such as “Full House of Aces Over Jacks.” The Card Index portion of the table can also be used to access a graphic representation of each of the cards in the deck for display on the card portion 242 of the display 240 of the machines 224-234. For example, a graphic of the Queen of Hearts can be accessed with the Card index fields of the Table 6 for display on the video display 242 as one of the cards dealt to a player on that machine. It should be noted that everything necessary to display the spinning reel game results on the display 244 is well known to those skilled in the art of gaming machine design.

-   -   The following is an example of how a game can be executed on a         system of the type shown in FIG. 11 utilizing the prize         structure of Table 3 as shown in FIG. 12 and tables described         above. In this example, the game is played with six players on         the machines 224-234. In this example, the game logic is         implemented at the system computer 210 with the players         communicating with the game control or system computer 210 via         the lines 212-222. First, a set of 6 random integers in the         range 1 to 2,598,960 is selected by the computer 210. These         integers can serve as the indices of the hands of the 6 players         in the game. Preferably, in this version of the game, each of         these integers is determined by an independent random selection         from the range of 1 to 2,598,960, that is, in effect a hand each         player is dealt from his own deck In this case, it is         theoretically possible that duplicate hands can occur. In an         alternative version, all players can be dealt from a common         deck. Next, the hand indices are used to retrieve the respective         records from the Poker Hands table, Table 6. Also, the Card 1         index, Card 2 index, Card 3 index, Card 4 index, Card 5 index         fields of the retrieved records of Table 6 are used to determine         the symbols to be displayed on the display 242 for each hand.         Then, the system computer 210 determines the winner of the hand         which would be the player whose retrieved record had maximum         rank. At this point, the prize level to be awarded the winning         player is determined by using the rank of his hand using         Table 5. After the determination of the prize level for the         winning player, a display of a spinning reel sequence can be         generated on the display 244 for each of the machines 224-234         where the spinning reel sequence corresponds to the prize         awarded to that player. Also, at this point the symbols for the         poker hands drawn for each of the players can be shown in the         displays 242. In this embodiment the prize amount for the winner         can then be dispensed to the winning player via the slot 238. In         this particular embodiment, there will be no prize for each of         the non winning players.

The approach as described above has a number of significant advantages including the design of gaming systems where the prize structure of one game can be modified and utilized in connection with a payout format of another game such that the payouts can be designed so as to increase the attractiveness to players, provide a desired return to the game system's proprietor and conform to any statutory requirements. It will be appreciated that there are a wide variety of games, hardware and software in which these concepts can be implemented. For example, the embodiment of a gaming system described herein in is a multiplayer game, but the concept of enhancing the granularity of a prize structure of one game to provide a close simulation to the output of another game can be implemented in a single player or standalone video gaming machine. In addition to various types of poker, this approach of increasing the granularity of a first type game to approximate the display output of a second type of game such as a spinning real type slot machine can be used with other types of card games. For example, in a Black Jack game that uses multiple decks, the decks can be identified with different colors in order to expand the number of ranks. Other card games having player appeal which have hands that can be dealt on video gaming machines for which an expanded rank structure can be constructed: include Rummy, Hearts, Canasta, and Bridge.

Another advantage of constructing the prize or ranking structure as described above is that individual ranks of various hands can be adjusted on the basis of hand count per rank and number of hands per rank so as to enhance player enjoyment.

FIG. 13 is a table illustrating another method of increasing the granularity of a prize structure that can be used with the system of the type shown in FIG. 1. Here, the prize amounts are determined by scores of more than one hand. In the example described below, the prize structure of FIG. 13 can be used with a showdown poker game having players enrolled on six of the terminals 26-34 and where each of the players has his own deck.

As background, consider a conventional slot machine with a prize structure that awards a 1,000,000 coin prize for a single coin with, on average, 5% of the coins-in to be returned to the player via awards of this prize. In order to accomplish this objective, the determining event for this prize should occur on average once per 20,000,000 coins-in. One method for accomplishing this is by defining this rare event in the context of a 6 player stud poker game as follows. For example, in a 6 player game, 3,333,333 games produce 20,000,000 coins in. In this case, the prize is awarded when the winning player has a royal flush and the second best hand is better than a 7 high straight. The probability of the winning hand among 6 players being a royal flush is 9.234427 parts per million (ppm) as shown in column 3 of FIG. 3. The probability of the best hand in 5 non-winning hands being better than a 7 high straight is 0.031635 as shown in column 4. Then the probability of the joint event in which the winning hand is a royal flush and the next best hand is better than a 7 high straight is then 0.031635×9.234427 ppm=0.292136 ppm as shown in column 5. As a result, this event will occur once in 3,423,067 games played or one occurrence in 20,538,402.3 coins-in. The result is within about 2.7% of a design goal of 1 occurrence per 20,000,000 coins-in. This is usually an acceptable approximation to the goal. Also, as indicated in column 8 of FIG. 3, this particular pay scheme will return 94.86 percent of the coin-in to the players. In those cases where a closer approximation to the design goal is desired and the complexity of the defining event can be justified, the rank of the third best player's hand can be included to define a compound event incorporating the ranks of all three hands, that is, the winner's hand and that of the two next best hands. Moreover, this approach can be further extended to the hands of the remaining players. It should be noted that these calculations assume that each player is dealt from his own deck.

As with the other approaches as described above, the method of designing a prize structure illustrated in FIG. 13 has a number of significant advantages including the design of gaming systems where the prize structure of one game can be modified and utilized in connection with a payout format of another game such that the payouts can be designed so as to increase the attractiveness to players, provide a desired return to the game system's proprietor and conform to any statutory requirements. In addition, this process makes it possible to provide very high payouts as illustrated in the sixth column of FIG. 13. 

1. An video bingo gaming apparatus having a system controller, that includes a pay structure having a pay table, connected to a plurality of player operated terminals displaying one or more bingo cards wherein one or more bingo game winners are selected according to one or more predetermined symbol patterns on said cards and a bingo prize value is computed using the pay structure having a pay table comprising: a mechanism operatively associated with the system controller for additionally selecting one or more near bingo winners wherein said near bingo winners have only a predetermined portion of the symbols in the symbol patterns; and wherein the pay structure includes a pay table having a set of near bingo prize values for said near bingo winners which are less than the value of the bingo prize.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system controller generates a series of simulated bingo balls and said near bingo prize values decrease as the number of said simulated bingo balls increase.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system controller generates a series of simulated bingo balls and said near bingo prize values generally stay constant as the number of said simulated bingo balls increase.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said predetermined portion of the symbols in the symbol patterns for near bingo winners is one less symbol than in the predetermined symbol patterns.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said system controller is a gaming system computer or a system server and said player operated terminals are video gaming machines or internet appliances
 6. An apparatus for playing a bingo game comprising: a system controller; a plurality of player operated terminals operatively connected to said system controller wherein each of said terminals includes a set of player controls and a display; card display logic operatively associated with said system controller and said terminals responsive to said player controls to display at least one bingo card having a set of symbols on said displays; game logic operatively associated with said system controller and said terminals including a predetermined set of winning symbol patterns, a random simulated ball selection mechanism for selecting simulated balls wherein each of said balls is associated with one of said symbols, a winner select mechanism for determining after each said ball is selected if one or more of said displayed bingo cards has a set of symbols matching one of said winning symbol patterns from said selected balls and identifying said bingo cards as bingo game winners, and a near winner select mechanism for determining if one or more of said displayed bingo cards has a set of symbols matching all but one of said symbols from said selected balls that are required for one of said winning symbol patterns and identifying said bingo cards as near bingo winners; and a prize structure mechanism operatively associated with said game logic for determining a bingo prize value for said bingo game winners and a near bingo prize value for said near bingo winners.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said system controller includes a gaming system computer and said terminals are video bingo gaming machines.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said system controller includes a system server, said terminals include internet appliances and said system controller is connected to said internet appliances via the internet.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said bingo prize value is greater than said near bingo prize value.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein at least a portion of said near bingo prize values decrease as a function of an increase in the number of said balls selected.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said near bingo prize values stay equal with the increase in the number of said balls selected.
 12. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said game logic requires each player, after the initial purchase of one or more of said bingo cards for display on the terminal associated with the player and prior to said selection of at least one of said balls, to make a predetermined payment utilizing said player controls for each of said bingo cards displayed that the player desires to remain in the bingo game.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said prize structure is constructed so as to provide a player win frequency of approximately one in six of the bingo games.
 14. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said bingo cards include a five by five matrix of randomly selected numbers serving as said symbols and said winning symbol patterns include a row of said numbers and the corresponding near bingo winner contains four out of five of said numbers.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said winning symbol patterns additionally include a one of said numbers in each of the corners of said matrix and the corresponding near bingo winner contains three out of four of said numbers.
 16. A method for operating a bingo game comprising the steps of: distributing one or more bingo cards having a set of play symbols to a plurality of players; drawing from a drawing mechanism a sequence of balls each ball having one of said play symbols; determining, after each ball has been generated, if any of said bingo cards is a winner by virtue of containing said play symbols that correspond to said play symbols on said balls in one of a set of predetermined patterns; and determining after said winner has been determined if any of said bingo cards is a near winner by virtue of containing said play symbols that correspond to said play symbols on said balls in a predetermined portion but not all of one of said set of predetermined patterns.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said predetermined portion of said pattern is one less than necessary to complete said pattern.
 18. The method of claim 16 additionally determining a value for said winning bingo card and a value for said near winner bingo cards according to a predetermined prize structure wherein said winning bingo card value is generally greater than said near bingo card values.
 19. The method of claim 16 wherein said bingo cards include said symbols printed on a substrate and said drawing mechanism includes a cage for containing said bingo balls.
 20. The method of claim 16 wherein said step of distributing said bingo cards includes transmitting from a system controller to a plurality of player operated terminals for display said bingo cards and wherein said step of drawing from a drawing mechanism includes utilizing said system controller to generate simulated representations of said balls. 